The list of expensive assets owned by the richest Ndegwa’s family

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The Ndegwas, one of the richest families in Kenya, have proposed or completed five disposals and mergers in the past four years — the latest being the planned merger of NIC Group with Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA).

The Ndegwa family has a controlling stake in NIC Group while CBA is majority-owned by the family of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta. It has not been clear where the Ndegwas are investing proceeds of the transactions.

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Besides profit-taking, the deals are being seen as helping to simplify the business empire, which has scores of companies in diverse sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, services and real estate.

The lists of assets

G-North & Son Limited

The reorganisation started in early 2015 when the family sold its agriculture and hospitality equipment company G-North & Son Limited to businessman Paul Ndung’u for an undisclosed sum.

ICEA BUILDING

Later that year, the Ndegwas sold ICEA Building in central Nairobi to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology for Sh1.8 billion, leading to its renaming as JKUAT Towers.

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This particular transaction has been a thorn in the flesh for the Ndegwas after the university defaulted on payment of valued added tax (VAT), leaving a debt that has grown to Sh411.4 million and exposing the two parties to legal action.

“The plaintiff (ICEA Lion Life Assurance Company) is aggrieved that the university has failed to pay the VAT and the same continues to attract penalties and interest,” the insurance firm said in a suit it has filed against JKUAT.

The sale agreement for the transaction says that the university had undertaken to pay VAT, stamp duty and registration fees upon transfer of the property.

Ennsvalley Bakery

The sale of the ICEA Building was followed by the disposal of Ennsvalley Bakery to Unga Group — a company in which the Ndegwas have a controlling 50.93 per cent stake. The transaction was done in two tranches between 2016 and 2017 for a total of Sh535 million.
The bakery business suffered soon after the purchase, forcing Unga to write off Sh151 million or 28.2 per cent of the amount it had invested in the acquisition.

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CBA and NIC said the merger, which will create the third-largest lender in Kenya with assets of Sh444.3 billion, will boost their ability to grow in the local and regional market.

Ahead of the proposed tie-up with CBA, the Ndegwas had moved to involve more family members in the running of NIC. Ms Wakini Ndegwa joined the bank as a non-executive director earlier this year.

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